With a -ve trait - what are my chances ? Pls advise ...

[mkgeetha]

Here is my profile.

- Famale, 33, Indian, 10 yrs in IT product company
- Roles : Engineer, Module leader, Tech leader, Project leader, Principal Engr (present)
- GPA 3.8, GMAT 750
- No community activities at school etc as I was a book worm , spending all my leisure time reading classics
- Strong technical leadership demonstrated at work
- Good mentoring and coaching skills
- Known as a good team player and team leader, but ...
here is the catch - not a leader in a conventional way.
ie, I don't raise my voice, fight for my beliefs, boss around people etc. But very collaborative, cooperative, do not point out mistake of team members in public, try to make them realize mistakes by asking leading questions, try hard not to insult feelings of others etc. In short, not seen as a "very strong leader" . The feedback I always get from my boss is that though I am highly effective as a lead, I try to please everyone and that I need to get over that. (His exact comment : "You are more of a mother than a manager").

Will this trait , along with my lack of extra-curricular activites come in the way of my dream of an MBA from top 25 ?

Any comments (+ve or -ve welcome) ...
TIA

[aim-wsc]

haha
I dont see it as a -ve trait. You'll have a lot of room to talk about other stuff in your essays. So it all can nullify.
In fact with good essay I think you can easily make it to your desired b-school.

You've great distiguishing features: Female, strong work experience & great GMAT score.
All the best.

[VP_MBA_Guru]

Hey MK,

Thanks for your post.

You have good credentials and likely a good candidate for a top MBA program. However it is hard to gauge your candidacy based on profile/stats, as much of the decision is based on your essays, LORs, interview.

One thing to consider, you are (unfortunately) in one of the most competitive applicant pool - Indians with IT background. Therefore your biggest challenge is how to best differentiate yourself. What makes you different from the thousands of Indian IT applicants that will apply to the same schools with similar backgrounds.

Also, your age is a higher than average. Its not a dealbreaker, but many schools are trending downward in terms of work experience.

Curious - do you think your employer would sponsor an EMBA?

You should also check out Veritas Prep's School Selector tool. This is a great way to get a sense of what schools you might be competitive in. Here is the link www.veritasprep.com/selector

Good luck!

NP

[mkgeetha]

Hmm... That is true.
To be frank , I don't think I did anything exceptional in my career, like getting a patent.
All I did was do my work very well and I made steady progress, one promotion per 2-2.5 years. I had a break of a year also, but that can be explained (related to delivery). So in short, there is nothing to differentiate me from thousands of other IT applicants

My company may sponsor EMBA. I need to find out the details.

I used the selector tool, but I think it takes only GMAT score into a/c, because it showed me the optimum schools as Stanford, Wharton, MIT etc

Thanks,
--Geetha